Oil Change

[Stocker]

Does anyone follow the factory 5000 mi oil change schedule?

[MM2004]

Never have and probably never will!

I am an old dog, can't teach me anything new. :D

Mike.

Does anyone follow the factory 5000 mi oil change schedule?

[ckadiddle]

I have always followed the "severe duty" schedule of every 3000 miles due to the hot weather season here in Florida. I also have the transmission service done at the beginning of every summer regardless of mileage. Our cars are driven mostly city, very few highway miles, probably around 10000 miles per year on the primary vehicle (Marauder). I intend to keep the Marauder for a looooooong time.

[Paul T. Casey]

I do, but my use is more like what used to call for 6000 mi intervals. 82K and no troubles so far.

[RoyLPita]

Nope. I am religious on changing my oil at 3k.

[BillyGman]

I put about 14,000 miles on my car annually, and I change my own oil three times per year (early April, mid July, & mid November). I also have the transmission flushed and the fluid changed twice per year now that the car is S/Ced.

[jonroe]

I have been using 4,000 miles on my cars ever since I switched them all to Mobil 1 a few years ago. At the moment, I'm debating about whether to put the MM on 4,000 miles or 5,000 miles. I have about 5400 on there now.

Jon

[RF Overlord]

Mobil 1 5W-30 and Motorcraft FL820S every 5,000 miles...car now has 33,000 on it...as soon as the warranty is up, I'll stretch that out to 7,500 miles...Mobil 1 will do that easily (as will any good synth).

[MENINBLK]

Does anyone follow the factory 5000 mi oil change schedule?

I am a serious advocate for 3k motor oil changes, but after I read up on BlackStone Labs (http://www.blackstone-labs.com/) ,
I decided that with what I'm paying for my Mobil1 Oil and K&N Oil Filter,
its worth the extra money to get as much life out of my investment as I can,
and still be able to monitor the health of my engine, and the oil's useful life..

So as of my last oil change, and this current one, I am following Blackstone Lab's recommendation of 5k mile oil changes.

You may find that with your driving habits and your choice of oil and filter,
Blackstone may recommend a longer or shorter oil change interval.
It would be interesting to find out if anyone else has used Blackstone Labs,
and what interval was recommended to them, based on what their oil and filter choices were.

[BillyGman]

I'm a bit skeptical of that service (blackstone labs I mean) since they want to know how much oil you have to add to your engine between oil changes. That might indicate that they really might not be able to tell you everything about your engine that they claim to be able to simply from examination of the oil sample alone.


I wonder what would happen if you stated on the application form that you never have to add any oil between oil changes, and then on another form for a second oil sample that was taken from the same engine, you stated on the form that it was a different vehicle, and that you have to add two quarts of oil between oil changes just to see if their "analysis" would yield the same results, or vastly different ones. yes, I'm the suspicious type. Especially when it comes to spending $$ on my car.

[LNYTUNS]

I do every 5k on all my Ford and Honda vehicles with Mobile 1 0-w20. On my older cars regular 5-w30 every 2500. But with just me and my wife and 4 cars, the MM only gets about 5000 miles per summer anyway.

[MENINBLK]

I do every 5k on all my Ford and Honda vehicles with Mobile 1 0-w20. On my older cars regular 5-w30 every 2500. But with just me and my wife and 4 cars, the MM only gets about 5000 miles per summer anyway.

If you are waiting a whole year to change your oil, you are waiting too long.
Oil also oxidizes as it sits in the oil pan, and should be changed at least
every 6 months if your mileage isn't much.

[MENINBLK]

I'm a bit skeptical of that service (blackstone labs I mean) since they want to know how much oil you have to add to your engine between oil changes. That might indicate that they really might not be able to tell you everything about your engine that they claim to be able to simply from examination of the oil sample alone.

For one who runs a supercharger on his engine, I would think you would be interested is knowing
when something starts to show up in your oil, like antifreeze, from a failing head gasket,
or abnormal metal/bearing wear from beating on the engine/transmission.

My results seem to be about the same as other Marauder owners I've talked with.
We all have just about the same readings, with the same abnormalities, even with different oils.

I'd like to see a Mobil1 report vs a Amsoil report, since the oils are made up with different compounds.
The compounds should show up in the reports differently.

[2003 MIB]

I guess I'm a real dinosaur on this subject. 3 months or 3,000 miles no matter what. I'm so weird about this that my new F150 is sitting in the driveway because if I drove it to work today I'd be over the 3,000 mark-

So, I'm driving the daughter's Focus and will take the truck on a one-way trip to the dealer after work. It should be at 2997 rolling into the service bay. It wouldn't be so bad except that she's decorated the car with every "wild cherry" themed auto accessory that Wal-Mart had to offer (seat covers, air freshener on the mirror, license plate frame, visor CD holder and antenna ball). Jesus wept.

I also never drink milk on the day it expires and show up two hours early for every airline flight. Never said I was normal.

[Patrick]

Never said I was normal.

Thats too easy!!!!!!!!! But I change it every 3 months also.

[RF Overlord]

It would be interesting to find out if anyone else has used Blackstone Labs, and what interval was recommended to them, based on what their oil and filter choices were.MIB, is this a new service they're offering? I didn't see any mention of it on their web site...

I've used Blackstone for all my oil analyses, but they've never actually asked me about whose filter I use, or recommended an OCI for me...the closest I've come to that is telling them I planned on stretching my OCIs to 7-8k, and they said based on my readings that looked reasonable.

[wchain]

I do 3000, but I might go 5000 once I switch to synthetic.

[FordNut]

Every 5000 miles here. Over 45000 so far, no problems.

[jonroe]

As a follow-up, I only put a couple thousand miles per year on my TBird SC so I change it every May and November regardless of miles - and that's Mobil 1 too.

Jon

[Cobra25]

Does anyone follow the factory 5000 mi oil change schedule? No, I change it every 3000 and use Pure Amsoil Syn oil.

[nelsonrock]

On my '97 Marquis (4.6 V8, but different from the MM in important ways) I changed the oil at 2K, 5k and every 5K from then on. I drove a combination of city and highway and used a drive thru Quaker State oil change. The car had 121,000 on it when I gave it to my daughter and I'm sure she's added a few thousand. No problems. Gas mileage steady at 18 or 19 (for combination driving).

I'm not sure what I'll do with the MM. I started by changing at 1k and 3K. I guess I'll keep reading the opinions here.

[423REED]

Does anyone follow the factory 5000 mi oil change schedule?Hey Stocker!
I always change the oil/filter in my cars every 3 months, regardless of the mileage. I put on about 6K per year on my Marauder and 4K on my wife's SHO car. Lower mileage, stop and shut down driving is very hard on the engine oil. Because the oil doesn't get warm enough, and when you shut down on a short drive, gasolene runs down into the pan contaminating the oil. So after 3 months the oil has taken a beating. Plus on high performance cars, I like to baby them a little bit more than normal. These engines go through a lot when we lite 'em up. I do my trans oil/fliter & coolant every 2 years (which is isn't really babying too much). On my old 1987 Mustang GT convertible, I used to change out the rear diff. oil and traction lok friction modifier (really stinky stuff) every year. Its cheap, and it can't hurt.

With this maintenance schedule, I've never had any engine, trans., or axle problem issues.
JIM
______________________________
2004 MARAUDER 300A - DTR
1994 TAURUS SHO - DK GREEN

[jgc61sr2002]

No - I also change my oil every 3K. I change the oil once a year on my collector cars. I have recorded as little as 35 Miles for the year.
I had the oil changed on the Marauder after six months and recorded only 87 miles. It's in hibernation. :D

[MarauderMark]

3k or less never more...

[Bigdogjim]

WOW! An oil thread:up.....This is fun:)

3,000 for my Marauder on Mobil One,way cheaper than an engine:)

My fleet of work vans ( 25 E-350's) V-10's and V-8's get Ford 5-W20 every 3,000 last 7 vans are on Mobil One at 6,000 miles. So far the higest mileage Ford is a 6.8L V-10 at 335,825 van is only 4 years old:mad: Runs like a top does not use any oil between chages.(about every other week:rofl: )

I so feel the Marauder will be in good shape miles and years down the road.

[Captain Steve]

I had mine changed at 1k miles. Just to be sure that any crap from parts breaking in would be flushed. I was keeping an eye on my odometer to get it changed again at 6k.. when I got rear ended at around 5800.

Heh, five weeks without my car.. hopefully I'll have it back on Friday.
Five weeks driving a Focus.. GOD I miss my car :bigcry:



I guess I'm a real dinosaur on this subject. 3 months or 3,000 miles no matter what. I'm so weird about this that my new F150 is sitting in the driveway because if I drove it to work today I'd be over the 3,000 mark-

So, I'm driving the daughter's Focus and will take the truck on a one-way trip to the dealer after work. It should be at 2997 rolling into the service bay. It wouldn't be so bad except that she's decorated the car with every "wild cherry" themed auto accessory that Wal-Mart had to offer (seat covers, air freshener on the mirror, license plate frame, visor CD holder and antenna ball). Jesus wept.

I also never drink milk on the day it expires and show up two hours early for every airline flight. Never said I was normal.
Sounds like you're a real "belt AND suspenders" type of guy. I hope you're in a job where you're using that trait for good... parachute packer maybe?:)

[Donny Carlson]

Never said I was normal.
Trust me, you're not :)

[Amsoil_Dealer]

Stocker,

You had to start something, didn’t you? I feel compelled to share my personal experiences and down the page get up on the soapbox a little.

I run my Amsoil anywhere between 8,000 and 16,000 miles between oil changes depending on the product. 5W20 for 8700, 5W30 for 16,500. Oil analysis results have proven that both are safe from my car and my driving style. I am currently running Amsoil 10W30 and have just sent in my first sample at 6500 miles. I have just over 50,000 on the car.

Relative to Amsoil vs. Mobil-1, look here;
http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/oil-life.html

Both went over 14,000 miles over one year and Amsoil showed less wear. The report chastises Amsoil thickening over time but if you look at the graph, both oils thickened over time at about the same linear rate. Amsoil ASL starts with a higher viscosity and thus creeps out of the 30 wt. range with time. Is this bad? The wear metals don’t seem to indicate so. Amsoil 5W20 also tends to thicken into the 30 wt range over 8000 miles. Both the 5W30 and 5W20 stay in posted viscosity over 5000 mile intervals. I am currently testing the 10W30 to see how it does over time and my gut feel tells me a 5w20 / 5W30 blend is going to be the best brew for our cars.

Someone said that motor oil degrades over time. Another Myth. I read on BITOG where a guy recently bough a 1999 Boxter with the original 4000 mile oil in the car. He had it analyzed and everything remained fine. In fact the used oil analysis report (Mobil-1 factory fill) was pretty phenomonal

Personally I think 3000 mile drain intervals are a marketing myth created by the oil companies to sell more oil. :bs: Virtually all manufacturer recommendations are 5000 miles or more and have been for over 40 years. I have a 1962 Ford Owners manual in my “library” and it suggests a 6000 mile oil change interval. 6000 miles on oil and filters that were far inferior to today’s products. When did the 3000 mile drain recommendation come about anyway? Does anybody know? I didn’t think so. Perhaps this is more evidence that it was a marketing ploy. The more one thinks about it, oil companies recommendations for 3000 mile drain intervals is a terrible disservice to the environment. :soap: Soap box time. It is my opinion that when we throw perfectly good oil away at 3000 miles all we are doing is making the rich oil Arabs richer. Read the following for more info:

http://www.amsoil.com/lit/lng_article/index.aspx and read the actual articles from Lubes and Greases Magazine. Particularly the link to "Motor Oil Drain Intervals: An Ethical Burden?” These are a bit dated as Mobil has stepped up to the plate and now released extended drain interval products and I applaud them for having the courage to do so.

OK, I’m off the soap box now. If anyone cares to talk about it and/or has the courage to change one’s ways and shed the 3000 mile oil change myth, I am available to chat.

Don

[Mike Poore]

... Don
Thanks, Don. I was hoping someone would step up to the plate and give an answer based on reliable data. We've been using Synthetics forever, starting with Mobil-1 and switching to Amsoil oil, and filters about 10 years ago. We change at 10,000 miles, which, for light service, is way conservative, but makes it easy to keep track of when to change. Even if my MM was SC'd I'd use the same 10K interval with synthetics. For you guys who are not using synthetics, my advice is to take a look at the data Don's provided, and switch to synthetic at your next oil change.:)

[CRUZTAKER]

Royal purple three times a year regardless of milage. BTW: I average 12 thousand miles a year and park for nearly 5 months each year.

It gets fresh oil before the park, and mid summer. Repeat. Enjoy.

[Bigdogjim]

Personally I think 3000 mile drain intervals are a marketing myth created by the oil companies to sell more oil. :bs: Virtually all manufacturer recommendations are 5000 miles or more and have been for over 40 years. I have a 1962 Ford Owners manual in my “library” and it suggests a 6000 mile oil change interval. 6000 miles on oil and filters that were far inferior to today’s products. When did the 3000 mile drain recommendation come about anyway? Does anybody know? I didn’t think so. Perhaps this is more evidence that it was a marketing ploy. Don

I would agree on the intervals. However changing is the out right cheapest thing you can do to protect the engine. Regular Ford oil 5-W20 from any Dealer cost lets say $35. a shot. OK! 200,000 miles is just about 67 oil changes. Total is about $2345. vs. over $7500. for a new engine, I know rebuilds are less. My point is 3,000 miles has proven results. Is it oil company hype? 100% I agree, great marking on their part!

Now using a synthetic (Mobil One) at $65. a oil change is going to cost $2210. for 34 times going on 6,000 miles. still cheaper then a engine.

Auto makers push all the service intervals just to make it look cheaper to operate a car today as say 20 years ago.

Want to try 100,000 spark plugs? Not me :rolleyes:

[ctrcbob]

Anyone using RedLine (Ester or Polyolester) vice the AmsOil or Mobil-1 (PAO's)?



.

[dhawke98]

I have always followed the "severe duty" schedule of every 3000 miles due to the hot weather season here in Florida.

Hot weather in FL??? I am from FL and now live in AZ. Not hot in FL, only humid.

3000 or less, religiously or 3 months (3months is usually first).

[BillyGman]

For one who runs a supercharger on his engine, I would think you would be interested is knowing
when something starts to show up in your oil, like antifreeze, from a failing head gasket,
or abnormal metal/bearing wear from beating on the engine/transmission.

. I've had N/A cars before which had failing head gaskets, and in my experience, once the head gasket starts leaking anti-freeze into the oil, it doesn't take long at all for it to be very obvious from eyesite alone while viewing the oil dipstick since the oil level rises too high on the stick, and the oil color changes to a milky color. This happens within days, and I don't think that oil analysis is going to provide any quicker detection than that.

Furthermore, according to everything that I've heard and read about S/Cing, the one thing that will cause headgasket failure to be more prevalent or likely on any S/Ced engine than N/A engines is detonation (AKA "knocking", "pinging"), and that would only happen from an improper engine tune (more specifically an improper ignition timing advance curve, and/or an improper air/fuel ratio setting). And I'm very confident in the conservative tuning settings that Lidio burns into every computer chip that is included with the Trilogy S/Cer kits. That was one of the deciding factors for my S/Cer choice, and if I wasn't confident of that, then I would've never S/Ced my car in the first place. But thanks for looking out for me just the same. :)

[Yamaha]

During first 1000 miles I did 3 changes to get the crap out. @200, 500 and 1000. Be amazed what comes out in ALL new engines for the first several hours of operation ! After that every 5K with Amsoil 0W30 and the their Super duty filter. This is probably the best oil/filter combo going. I use it at 10k for all my other cars. PS don't forget the trans and rear end oil. If I'm not mistaken you can drain the torque converter fully. Did that with my CV. Trans still OK after 200K. They typically start grenading at 150K if not maintained (ask any Limo service). Do that every 20-30K with filter. Rear end @25K and every 50K thereafter w/sythetic 75W140 like the Cobra. Yes, I am anal about fluid changes but its the life blood of the car so......... ! Stan
:coolman:
Red '04-9,900 miles
4.10's + Lidio chip
TA Girdle w/bolt kit w/severe service oil
B&M Deep sump trans pan (adds 3 qts.)
Class IV hitch TB installed
B&M trans cooler TB installed
HID kit on way BOTH HI AND LOW BEAMS !
HID (HELLA) aux. driving lamps TB installed
JLT CAI comming

Rest of stable:
'89 Mustang convert, 7 PSI Paxton, GT-40 heads, JBA headers, Borla ex. ect....
98.5 SVT Contour, Vortech, Quiffe diff, 18'ers, Konis, 289 FWHP
'03 Hyabusa+ Akrapovic Exhaust 160 RWHP
'94 Yamaha GTS
'78 Ducati 900GTS
Coupe de gras:Stereo/home theater 110' Hi Def projection with total watts-somewhere around 13KW plus a back up generator to run the house so the movies go uninterrupted.
1 pissed off wife-God bless her I would be too.

[wchain]

During first 1000 miles I did 3 changes to get the crap out. @200, 500 and 1000. Be amazed what comes out in ALL new engines for the first several hours of operation ! After that every 5K with Amsoil 0W30 and the their Super duty filter. This is probably the best oil/filter combo going. I use it at 10k for all my other cars. PS don't forget the trans and rear end oil. If I'm not mistaken you can drain the torque converter fully. Did that with my CV. Trans still OK after 200K. They typically start grenading at 150K if not maintained (ask any Limo service). Do that every 20-30K with filter. Rear end @25K and every 50K thereafter w/sythetic 75W140 like the Cobra. Yes, I am anal about fluid changes but its the life blood of the car so......... ! Stan
:coolman:
Red '04-9,900 miles
4.10's + Lidio chip
TA Girdle w/bolt kit w/severe service oil
B&M Deep sump trans pan (adds 3 qts.)
Class IV hitch TB installed
B&M trans cooler TB installed
HID kit on way BOTH HI AND LOW BEAMS !
HID (HELLA) aux. driving lamps TB installed
JLT CAI comming

Rest of stable:
'89 Mustang convert, 7 PSI Paxton, GT-40 heads, JBA headers, Borla ex. ect....
98.5 SVT Contour, Vortech, Quiffe diff, 18'ers, Konis, 289 FWHP
'03 Hyabusa+ Akrapovic Exhaust 160 RWHP
'94 Yamaha GTS
'78 Ducati 900GTS
Coupe de gras:Stereo/home theater 110' Hi Def projection with total watts-somewhere around 13KW plus a back up generator to run the house so the movies go uninterrupted.
1 pissed off wife-God bless her I would be too.


Welcome! POST PICS OF YOUR SVT CONTOUR!

[Patrick]

During first 1000 miles I did 3 changes to get the crap out. @200, 500 and 1000. Be amazed what comes out in ALL new engines for the first several hours of operation ! After that every 5K with Amsoil 0W30 and the their Super duty filter. This is probably the best oil/filter combo going. I use it at 10k for all my other cars. PS don't forget the trans and rear end oil. If I'm not mistaken you can drain the torque converter fully. Did that with my CV. Trans still OK after 200K. They typically start grenading at 150K if not maintained (ask any Limo service). Do that every 20-30K with filter. Rear end @25K and every 50K thereafter w/sythetic 75W140 like the Cobra. Yes, I am anal about fluid changes but its the life blood of the car so......... ! Stan
:coolman:
Red '04-9,900 miles
4.10's + Lidio chip
TA Girdle w/bolt kit w/severe service oil
B&M Deep sump trans pan (adds 3 qts.)
Class IV hitch TB installed
B&M trans cooler TB installed
HID kit on way BOTH HI AND LOW BEAMS !
HID (HELLA) aux. driving lamps TB installed
JLT CAI comming

Rest of stable:
'89 Mustang convert, 7 PSI Paxton, GT-40 heads, JBA headers, Borla ex. ect....
98.5 SVT Contour, Vortech, Quiffe diff, 18'ers, Konis, 289 FWHP
'03 Hyabusa+ Akrapovic Exhaust 160 RWHP
'94 Yamaha GTS
'78 Ducati 900GTS
Coupe de gras:Stereo/home theater 110' Hi Def projection with total watts-somewhere around 13KW plus a back up generator to run the house so the movies go uninterrupted.
1 pissed off wife-God bless her I would be too.


Great info thanks!! Welcome!

[Murader03]

Yes I do. The car spends most of it's time on the road, 75K. Of course as you can see, Paul's doing better........

[Bluerauder]

Does anyone follow the factory 5000 mi oil change schedule?
Mine is in every 3,000 miles give or take a couple. Number 6 is due in about 300 miles. :D

[mcb26]

I change every 3k, force of habbit. Put 500k+ on a 67 289 galaxie, no motor problems other than oil leaks at various places. Have 150k on an F150, no problems at all, but then again it's a 300 6I. I don't think anything short af a laws rocket could hurt that engine.

[Stocker]

Thanks for the input. I'll stick to the 5000 mile change. I have 14000 on it now in a year and a half with 2600 from a trip to Idaho. Seems to be about every 6 months. My Camaro has 59000 on it in 13 years of owning it. I don't think I get 3000 on it before changing, and sometimes it may take a year.

[Kelly]

When new at 1,000 miles then a 3,000 mile change from then on, no matter what oil I use. I was just at Wal-Mart and was told by the counter guy that they are no longer going to be able to sell the motorcraft brand, Motorcraft was pulling the brand from them. They were out of the 5w20, now the only place to buy it would be the Dealer . Bummer!

[Merc-O-matic]

Bummer on the Wal-Mart deal. Their Motorcraft 5W20 was cheap!!!!
BOHICA.....

Gotta Love It! :banned:

[BillyGman]

I was just at Wal-Mart and was told by the counter guy that they are no longer going to be able to sell the motorcraft brand, Motorcraft was pulling the brand from them. They were out of the 5w20, now the only place to buy it would be the Dealer . Bummer!But that doesn't neccessarily mean that the parts stores won't have it. Does it? Perhaps it's just some differences that Walmart had with that company. No?

[Bigdogjim]

Have 150k on an F150, no problems at all, but then again it's a 300 6I. I don't think anything short af a laws rocket could hurt that engine.

I had these engine in the E-20's when took over 7 years ago. Got 450,000 out of them before we junked them:)

That was a great engine:up:

[jonroe]

Too bad about Wal-Mart. I still see Motorcraft oil at my local Advanced Auto parts stores but not as cheap as WM.

[fastblackmerc]

My oil change schedule:

New - oil & filter 500 miles (gets rid of any mfg. debris left in engine), oil & filter at 1,000 miles, oil & filter at 5,000 and every 5,000 after.

Previously owned - oil & filter as soon as I get it home then every 5,00 miles afterward.

All my cars get oil changes at 5,000 miles (5,000 - 10,000 - 15,000 - 20,000 - etc.) easy to remember that way.

Note: use the type and weight oil recommended by the manufacturer.

[merc6]

Anyone using RedLine (Ester or Polyolester) vice the AmsOil or Mobil-1 (PAO's)?.I was gonna ask the same question. On my 2.3 I was using 1-2 Qts of redline 5W-20 mixed with the Mobil 1 0W-20 when it still existed :depress: . After the 0W dissapeared the others went german casterol(Green Stuff) Anyone running Redline or German Casterol(Green or Gold)?
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=51; DaysPrune=1000
The other stuff used was Lubeguard and Fuelpower additives.
http://lubecontrol.com/